Look Carefully!

Looking carefully...lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble. Hebrews 12:15

Harbouring bitterness won't change the other person, but it'll sure change you - and not for the better! The heaviest thing you'll ever carry is a grudge. It'll make you sour and miserable to be around because your only desire will be to see the guilty party punished;especially when you or someone you love is the perceived victim.
What happens is this: Satan enters the picture and convinces you it's okay to harbour resentment. After all, you're only "protecting yourself"from getting hurt again, right? When that happens you dig in, justify your position and get comfortable living with resentment. That is -until it destroys you! The reason God says, "look carefully," is because our bitterness has many sources: like an absentee or abusive parent we can't forgive; a nasty divorce we keep reliving; the careless words of afriend who's not even aware of their effect; the boss who passed us up for a promotion. By harbouring grudges we let bitterness live rent-freein our head!

What's the answer? Forgive - before the problem becomes embedded in your emotions and starts feeding off your memories. Rehearsing old hurts drives them deeper until they take root and resist all attempts to weed them out. Paul said, "Make a clean break...Forgive one another as quickly...as...Christ forgave you" ( 4:31-32 ). And the sooner you do it the better! Remember, there's no emotion so deeply rooted that God's grace can't reach down and remove it. The question today is - are you ready to let Him?